Update on 50BMG Arrest

R

RickD

Moderator
I tried to post this in my other thread but it wouldn't take it. Soooo....


I got this from someone I trust implicitly--

Here is the latest info forwarded from the Libertarian County Chair in Phoenix

<snip>
BATF phone number - 602-776-5400
Public information officer - Tom Mangan

Friday search warrant at his house (Robert Wilson Stewart) was acted on by the BATF
because,... he had a previous felony - felony for possession of machine guns 1994 out of Utah. Did a couple of years.

The chronology of the investigation went something like this; the Firearm Technical Branch of the BATF determined that these "kits" were readily able to be turned into a firearm and therefore IS a firearm,.. sooooooooo, they must/may have/probably been converted so the judge issued the warrent based on these facts and the fact that he was a past felon.

Mr. Mangan of the BATF kept putting me on hold and coming back to ask me more questions
about who I was and what interest I had in the story. I told him who I was [Libertarian County Chair] and that we publish a Libertarian Tabloid and had planned to raffle off at least one of the "kits" for a fund raiser and that this arrest would be GREAT publicity for the raffle.....

on hold again........

I then asked why they waited until now since the production of these 'Kits" have been known for a long time.....

on hold again......

He asked if he could call me back. Sure. Here's my phone numbers. But I'll be unavailable after 45 min. So please get right back to me, I have many questions .
<snip>

Ernie loves publicity,

Rick
 
Some BATF agent observed that the rule of thumb is that parts constitute a gun if they can be assembled and/or machined into one in 8 hours.

Someone else observed that a competent machinist could turn a VW Bug into a machine gun in 8 hours.
 
Another update from the Maricopa County Libertarian County Chair...

<snip>
The BATF agent hasn't called back. So I called and got his voice mail.

I asked that he try to find the answers to some questions before he called me back.

-Were any of the items seized a converted firarm or were they yet to be converted?
-Where is he being held?
-What are the charges?
-Has he an attorney yet? (does he need one :)
<snip>
 
Every home in America has materials to assemble a weapon in less than 8 hrs.

Klintons communist agenda continues to move forward.

Waterdog
 
i guess i had better watch out, cause i have 2 spare bug motors stored under my canoe in my backyard. Maybe i should apply for an arsenal licence.

this is on FR: http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a394b0b9d287f.htm
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Hi, This was sent to me via a friend. Late friday night/early saturday morning (ie. in the middle of the night.), 10 carloads of BATF agents broke into Maddi-Griffins house (he is actually Bob Stewart),
roughed up his wife, scared his 3 lovely children half to death (they are 2, 5, and 7) and took him away, as well as his computer, kits, and who knows what else. As of 7:00 PM Saturday he was being held
in Mea Culpa (sp?), a town in Arizona, with no charges being filed. He lives in Mesa, Arizona. The original news came out via radio, and was confirmed via telephone. Before it happened (possibly days
before), helicopters had been flying over the house, and people had been taking pictures from outside the house. I say this was a Janet Reno fathers day present to the second amendment lovers, and those
who believe in the fourth amendment. The "Jackbooted thugs" struck again, and we had better beware, we do not know who they will strike next. Our supporter, thinks he may be on their list.[/quote]

dZ
 
as for the VW to gun conversion

any engine cyl. can be a black powder morter

most drive trains are basicly heavy gauge pipe or low grade barrels

Just a thinking all the time ;)
 
Mr. Stewart is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court today (somewhere in Phoenix).

His story made the Mesa Tribune and has been the topic on at least one radio show. The host was on our side, some of the callers are quite ignorant, however. They were calling his single-shot rifle an assault weapon. The BATF representative was reported as saying that there was not need for such an "assault weapon...no sporting use for something that can go through an inch and a half of steel..." Tell that to an Elk.

I haven't read the story yet, but Mr. Stewart appears to be very defiant. I smell a court fight as high as he can take it.

The BATF are no doubt going after his felony status (convicted of possession of an unregistered machine gun) he didn't pay the $200 tax. They are also going to say that having parts of a gun, barrel, receiver (that requires machining to make operate) trigger group, etc. constitutes a firearm.

My understanding is that under the law and BATF regs this is not so. Is it illegal for a non-violent felon to make a barrel? A trigger group? A non-functioning receiver?

It appears that the guy was within the law unless someone can show me otherwise. The BATF is trying a test case of their own. They really hate the .50 BMG.

Rick
 
You can machine a gun from a block of steel, does this make a block of steel illegal to sell without an FFL? :mad:

------------------
John/az
"When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..." RKBA!
www.cphv.com
 
came across my email:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>>This info is from the Second Amendment Sisters AZ Coordinator, who lives
>in Mesa, AZ:
>
>Big fish to fry! It was confirmed in the local (Mesa AZ) newspaper today
>that Bob Stewart the owner of ..50bmg manufacturer, Maadi-Griffin was
>arrested Friday by the BATF. Mr. Stewart was arrested in his garage while
>his wife and children were inside their home. Seized in the raid was a
>"stockpile" of weapons, including 40 guns, boxes of ammunition, gun parts
>and the 3000 names of his customers.
>
>The BATF claims that Mr. Stewart is a convicted felon and has been selling
>his guns and gun kits over the Internet to bypass federal firearms laws.
>And that he advertises the fact that his kits require no FFL to purchase.
>
>Maadi-Griffin has been in business for 10 years without problems from the
>BATF.
>
>BATF agent Thomas Mangan said to the reporter, "we see no legitimate use
>for a gun like this, unless you are in the military". He went on to say,
>"no vest in the world could protect a law enforcement officer from a gun
>like this".
>
>Mangan also said. "The kits are equipped with a part that prevents the gun
>from operating unless the part is removed by a machinist". In accordance
>with BATF regulations the kit is technically incapable of being
>fired. But Mangan said that the gun is so easily retrofitted to become
>operational that authorities felt Stewart was flagrantly violating gun
>regulations.
>
>Mr. Stewart said, "I have a wife and children, friends, church and all
>that. I am willing to die for this if I have to".
>
>The article went on to list his assets and listed the value of his home at
>$256,000. Sounds like asset forfeiture is next to come.
>
>This is my summary on this story:
>
>1. The guns were manufactured in accordance with BATF regs.
>
>2. Maadi-Griffin bypassed a "loophole" in the regs.
>
>3. Mr. Stewart was a "felon".
>
>4. 3000 persons have purchased this gun.
>
>5. Mr. Stewart has valuable assets.
>
>I believe that the BATF found it easier and more efficient to arrest Mr.
>Stewart instead of changing BATF regulations. In the name of bureaucratic
>efficiency they will destroy this man and his family. Do you think that
>the BATF will not do anything with the customer list?
>
>Plan on seeing more of this in the near future.[/quote]
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dZ:
came across my email:

...

>
>BATF agent Thomas Mangan said to the reporter, "we see no legitimate use
>for a gun like this, unless you are in the military". He went on to say,
>"no vest in the world could protect a law enforcement officer from a gun
>like this".
>
...

[/quote]


Guess i should get rid of that 308 lever i got from my father... oh whell...

------------------
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

~USP

"... I rejoice that America has resisted [The Stamp Act]. Three millions of people, so dead to all feelings of liberty as to voluntarily submit to being slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest of us." -- William Pitt, British Parliament, December 1765

[This message has been edited by USP45 (edited June 20, 2000).]
 
DAMNIT DAMNIT DAMNIT!!!!

What can we do besides "writing" placebic letters?!

When is it going to happen to US individually!?

Are these actions escalating or am I imagining it? Is this the result of "project exile"? NRA sanctioned brutilization of law abiding citizens under the pretense of "enforcing the laws already on the books"? Do YOU know if YOU are violating one of the reported 20,000 different laws that we suffer under?

SO !@$!#$@#% WHAT IF HE POSSESED AN UNTAXED FULLY AUTOMATIC WEAPON!! THAT'S OUR FREAKING RIGHT TO OWN SUCH AN "ASSUALT" WEAPON!!

BASTARDS!! :mad:

------------------
John/az
"When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..." RKBA!
www.cphv.com
 
Jim,

I read it, and cut and pasted it to your thread. :D

I have never been arrested, nor do I know anyone personally who has. I read all the posts concerning these "raids" and am trying to learn as much as I can.

There don't seem to be too many options left...

------------------
John/az
"When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..." RKBA!
www.cphv.com
 
Write your congressman now!!!!
Demand the de-funding of the BATF!!!!

------------------
BOYCOTT SMITH AND WESSON!!!
Defend the Constitution from the foreign threat!!!!

Yeah, I got a permit to carry,it's called the friggin Constitution.---Ted Nugent

"Man killing is nasty business"---Finn Aggard
 
Agree.

Now that you have posted this information all over the internet, you need to post it to local and national media. Then you need to go to a mail-server www.keepandbeararms.com and mail your congresscritter.

Keep spreading the word. This guy was set up with the machine gun and now he is being taken for a ride (and us with him).

Rick
 
"We see no legitimate use for a gun like this unless you're in the military," he said. "No vest in the world could protect a law enforcement officer from a gun like this."
---Source: Sierra Times

"...which is exactly the reason citizens need access to it."
---Source: Joel Harmon
 
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